A Curious Collection of the Musings of One Jeremy Wise

Well, everything’s good so far with the baby. The ultrasound showed a very active little boy, already 9 oz. in weight. What an amazing technology, that ultrasound contraption!

1 THESSALONIANS 2

Part One

Make sure you read chapter 2 several times. It is a very short chapter. Remember our discussion about making observations. Read the chapter trying to see what Paul is saying to this young church.

Since this is our first stab at this, I have tried to divide the homework up into two sections—an easier and a more challenging. If you are new to studying your Bible feel free to stay on the easier section. The third section stresses application of what we are learning. Someone once said that Bible study without application is spiritual abortion.

We will probably discuss the first four verses of the chapter. To make your life easy, I have included the second chapter in the New American Standard Version.

[1] For you yourselves know, brethren, that our coming to you was not in vain, [2] but after we had already suffered and been mistreated in Philippi, as you know, we had the boldness in our God to speak to you the gospel of God amid much opposition. [3] For our exhortation does not come from error or impurity or by way of deceit; [4] but just as we have been approved by God to be entrusted with the gospel, so we speak, not as pleasing men, but God who examines our hearts.

[5] For we never came with flattering speech, as you know, nor with a pretext for greed – God is witness – [6] nor did we seek glory from men, either from you or from others, even though as apostles of Christ we might have asserted our authority. [7] But we proved to be gentle among you, as a nursing mother tenderly cares for her own children. [8] Having so fond an affection for you, we were well-pleased to impart to you not only the gospel of God but also our own lives, because you had become very dear to us. [9] For you recall, brethren, our labor and hardship, how working night and day so as not to be a burden to any of you, we proclaimed to you the gospel of God. [10] You are witnesses, and so is God, how devoutly and uprightly and blamelessly we behaved toward you believers; [11] just as you know how we were exhorting and encouraging and imploring each one of you as a father would his own children, [12] so that you would walk in a manner worthy of the God who calls you into His own kingdom and glory.

[13] For this reason we also constantly thank God that when you received the word of God which you heard from us, you accepted it not as the word of men, but for what it really is, the word of God, which also performs its work in you who believe. [14] For you, brethren, became imitators of the churches of God in Christ Jesus that are in Judea, for you also endured the same sufferings at the hands of your own countrymen, even as they did from the Jews, [15] who both killed the Lord Jesus and the prophets, and drove us out. They are not pleasing to God, but hostile to all men, [16] hindering us from speaking to the Gentiles so that they may be saved; with the result that they always fill up the measure of their sins But wrath has come upon them to the utmost.

[17] But we, brethren, having been taken away from you for a short while — in person, not in spirit — were all the more eager with great desire to see your face. [18] For we wanted to come to you — I, Paul, more than once — and yet Satan hindered us. [19] For who is our hope or joy or crown of exultation? Is it not even you, in the presence of our Lord Jesus at His coming? [20] For you are our glory and joy.

SECTION ONE: 1 Thessalonians 101

1. What is Paul’s main point in 2:1-4?

2. How does Paul’s persistence to preach the gospel in the midst of persecution support the validity of his message?

3. Why does Paul remind the Thessalonian readers that his motives were not driven by error, impurity, or deceit?

4. If the Thessalonians accepted Paul’s message, why is he now defending his message and motives so quickly after he’s left them?

5. Why is it important that Paul preached to please God rather than men?

6. Do men who claim to be Christians make their livings by teaching messages that please men, driven by motives of error, impurity, or deceit?

7. If Paul was willing to become all things to all men (cf. 1 Cor. 9:22), why did he emphasize that he didn’t seek to please men in this passage?

8. Why was Paul willing to endure beatings, to work for his own money, demanding nothing of his listeners, to submit his heart and motives to the Living God, risking reputation and life, simply to proclaim this message?

SECTION TWO: 1 Thessalonians 401

1. There are two possible interpretations of “not in vain” (v1):

a) Paul’s teachings were not hollow or empty; and

b) Paul’s teachings were not ineffective.

What would be the emphasis of each of these translations? Which do you think was Paul’s point in v. 2:1?

2. In what way is the “gospel” in v.2 “of God”? Why?

3. The Greek word for “appeal” in v.3 is paraklesis, similar to the word used to describe the Holy Spirit as a “comforter”. What are some of the other ways this word is translated in the New Testament?

SECTION THREE: APPLICATION

1. What sacrifices do we make individually to insure the Gospel is not only heard but that it is received in word and power? Are we willing to endure persecution? Do we live a life worthy of the gospel? Or, does our lifestyle negate any claims we make by proclaiming the Gospel?

2. Do we preach the Gospel in its pure, unadulterated form, or do we attempt to water it down to make it pleasing to wicked men?

3. What one time killer can we remove from our life so that we may more boldy proclaim the Gospel to those around us? Or, what one impure thing must we remove before those who hear our words will believe the Gospel has power to save?

Much discussion and thinking over Shaun Groves’ series, Shut Up and Worship led me to a few conclusions about worship and music and how the pieces fit together…

Style of music matters so little to me. I much more look at how Scriptural a song is. Often times I find “Christian” music, particularly of the last 10 years or so, to be all about feeling good and getting the warm fuzzies. I find a lot of “secular” songs that deal more truthfully with the issues we’re facing in the real world. If one so desires, he can live an entire life in CCM-style music and feel like the world is already a perfect place where sin is okay and we’re all forgiven and we’ve been saved from all responsibility.

The problem with that is it’s not true. We do have responsibilities. We aren’t saved simply to have our sin forgiven, we’re saved to be set free from sinning. We aren’t saved so we can be individuals who individually get to “go to heaven”, we’re saved so we can live day in and day out as a part of a BODY of believers… we’re saved to be part of the winning team.

But if we minimize the impact of salvation, if Jesus merely gives us a ticket to heaven when we die, and the rest of our life looks just like any other red-blooded cling-to-my-rights American, then God is just a ticket machine and we needn’t be grateful for much of anything. In fact, God starts looking like a mean guy — he gives me salvation, but not the next guy. I got my golden ticket… sucks to be in the rest of the world! Oh well, when do the Lions play?

Worship is FAR MORE about attitude. It’s about recognizing what filthy God-hating trash we were and how incredibly much God sacrificed on our behalf so we could have LIFE restored to us. It’s about realizing that everything we have is a gift to be shared with someone else. It’s about recognizing that our brothers and sisters are the most valuable asset on this earth. It’s about thanking God for a gift we could never afford.

What does that attitude look like? Sometimes it’s “Be still and know that I am God.” Sometimes it’s lying prostrate for an hour because words just don’t come. Sometimes it’s crying out in agony because our little minds just don’t understand. Sometimes it’s making a loud noise.. so loud it wakes the dead. Sometimes it’s a quiet hymn, while other times it’s blowing the roof off in music. But most of the time, it’s living a life of peace as much as it’s in our power, of feeding the hungry, of healing the sick, of housing the homeless, of strengthening the weary, of supporting the hurting. We mourn with those who mourn and we rejoice with those who rejoice. We forgive faster than we can think up a grudge and then we seek moment by moment ways to bless our friends as well as our enemies.

Worship isn’t music. Worship is becoming the grateful, godly, bold, intelligent, well-informed, loving people God created us and saved us to become. It’s living every moment of our life knowing that God is so incredibly awesome (in it’s original sense) that we can’t even earn a second of His ear or a moment before His throne… and then realizing that He dug into the filthy mess we’ve made to pull our stinky carcasses out and breathe into us new and everlasting life.

Wrap THAT into a song :-)

Boy would I like to go for a ride with these guys…

Need I say more?

Something’s been on my mind for a long time: the superficiality of the prayer requests we hear. I receive as many as half a dozen emails from my church every day. Someone’s fallen down; someone’s having surgery; someone passed away; someone wants a safe trip to Texas; someone has an exam coming up. Now don’t get me wrong… these requests are important. I’m sure God delights in our taking any and all requests before Him.

But there’s something missing. Why is it we only pray for the things no one expects we can change? We have no trouble sharing prayer requests for things we cannot do anything about because there’s no shame in admitting it. Of course I can’t heal cancer, or guarantee a safe air trip to Florida. If Jimmy breaks his arm, there’s nothing I can do to help it heal faster. These are all safe requests. If God answers them, we rejoice because we got our way. If God says no, we can point the finger at Him and say, “Well, clearly it wasn’t HIS will. Don’t look at me!”

My question, though, is this: Where are the unsafe requests? Where’s the man who admits he’s struggling with pornography? Where’s the woman who’s addicted to gossip? And the parents who are in over their head with a rebellious teen? Why are we not praying for the couple who can’t make ends meet financially? In all my years at Church, the first several of these have never come up. A few brave souls will mention financial problems, but only as, “I need money because I’ve lost my job.” You’ll never hear, “I have no money to feed my family because I have a spending problem and keep buying toys I can’t afford.” Again, we’re stuck in safe things. I can confess I’ve lost my job because it wasn’t my fault. My employer downsized — I can’t help that. Never have I heard a person ask for prayer because he has a bad temper and it cost him his job despite a terribly patient boss.

Why do we avoid these requests? I think there are two reasons. The first is pride. To request prayer because Uncle Tom’s brother’s second cousin three times removed… Susie… has cancer, is pious. We get to feel like we’re being good Christians, devoted to prayer. And for a few of us, that may even be true. But to request prayer because we’re failing as a husband/father/worker, now we have a problem. Our horrid pride says, “You can’t admit that! Maybe they WILL help you, but good grief! You’ll ruin your perfect image! They’ll think… they’ll think you FAIL at something!” So we remain silent. We keep that smile pasted on and tell our friends our marriage is still in the honeymoon stage, our kids are angels, and we’re practically second in command at the office.

The second reason, I think, is that we fear opening ourselves up for responsibility. If I mention that Tim’s driving to the store and needs a safe trip, I’m off the hook. Tim’s going to go to the store, and it’s entirely up to God to keep his attention on the road and his car out of danger. But if I ask for prayer for an addiction to electronic devices, people are going to expect me to take action. They might demand that I stop buying. they may even suggest that I get RID of some of my toys. Those prayer requests are dangerous because we already know the answer! We know what God demands of us. But if we mention our shortcomings to others, they’re going to know we aren’t living as we ought. They’re going to start holding us accountable and getting after us. If the gossip comes to a Bible study and her friends pray for an hour that she be set free from gossiping, they’re going to expect her to watch her speech!

And here’s the kicker… Whether or not Jake dies of cancer, whether or not the plane to Pittsburgh crashes, whether or not we have another breath on this earth — these are all totally in God’s hand, and He WILL see to it that His will be done. But those unsafe requests? They’re in our hands. Our responsibility isn’t born when we confess these things to one another; it’s already upon us. We know what is expected of us already – to live as Christ lived, to have the same attitude as that of Christ Jesus, to produce fruit in repentance, to confess sins to one another, to love God and love our neighbors. But if we start talking and praying about these things, the bar is going to be raised. We’re going to start expecting better out of one another. We’re going to hold one another accountable.

The good news is incredible, though. We have everything already that we need for life and godliness! If we swallow our pride and confess our shortcomings to one another, if we boldly approach the throne of God and beg Him to have mercy on us and free us from sin, He will. So the real question that remains is this:

Do I want the Kingdom of God enough to deny my prideful self, die daily to my fleshly desires, abandon my sinful ways, and obey?

For those who say yes, eternal life awaits. But I’m afraid most of us will remain on the wide road that leads to destruction… the road that seems to keep us safe but in the end leads to our destruction. And I think our prayer lives illustrate that all too well.

Just when you think life is going to settle down for a while…

* 90% of Americans believe themselves to be Christians
* * Nearly 100% of those who attend church regularly
* * Going door to door would reveal that nearly everyone believes he is going to heaven when he dies.
* The means of one’s salvation varies a bit more:
* * Some believe that going to church secures them
* * Some believe that all men will be saved by a loving God
* * Many believe they’re saved because a pastor, teacher, parent, friend, etc. has told them they’re saved.
* * Many in America believe that saying a prayer to ask Jesus into their hearts secures their eternity.
* * Often times people reassure one another of salvation despite having no way of knowing one way or another
* * When doubts creep in, we resort to comparing ourselves to one another… “I’m better than most of the other people in the world,” or, “I’m just as good as everyone else in the youth group.”
* * There’s a problem, though. Everyone in the church looks just like everyone outside the church.
* * Divorce is as prevalent among “Christians” as it is among those with no claim to believe
* * Abortion is as popular
* * Sexual immorality is just as prevalent
* * We have the same entertainment, the same values, the same desires, the same possessions, the same morals; the list goes on.
* * How do we know if we are saved? If any man can be deceived by thinking himself safe, to whom do we turn? Scripture tells us to test ourselves – to examine ourselves, to see if we are in the faith.

Examination
* Matthew 7 provides some of Jesus’ most well-known teachings. (READ passage)
* Narrow gate, narrow path
* * What is the narrow gate? Repentance and belief.
* * What is repentance? A turning away from sin.
* * BUT, it’s not merely a narrow gate; there’s also a narrow path!
* * * The repentance must continue daily with faith
* * * Die daily, take up your cross, and follow Jesus.
* * If few will find the narrow gate, and fewer will walk the narrow path, then those few must be very different than the rest of the world. If we examine ourselves and find we look just like everyone else, we should be terribly alarmed.
* * * What do we put our time and money into?
* * * What entertains us? Do we laugh at the things God hates, or do we hate the things God hates? Do we watch idolatry on TV or do we abhor idols?
* * * Do we wear clothes that display our love for purity or do we dress provocatively just like the rest of the world? Are we saving our bodies for our future spouse, or do we display it like a hooker in Vegas?
* * * Do we save our eyes only for our spouse, or do we fill our minds with images of women we have no business looking at?
* * * Do we hide the Word in our hearts so we don’t sin against our God, or do we receive our religion from music, TV, clichés, and t-shirts?
* * TEST: Are we living like the few people who have found the narrow gate and walk the narrow path, or are we walking just like most people, who are on the broad road that leads to destruction?
* Good trees, bad trees
* * We’re born rebelling against God. It’s not simply that we do a bunch of good things and mess up every now and then with sin. It’s that we do nothing but rebel against God. We hate Him; we hate His ways; we hate His laws. We don’t even have the ability to come to Him – he must draw us away or we will perish!
* * If Jesus asked, “Thorn bushes… do you find figs on thorn bushes?” how would we answer? “And fig trees… do they produce thorns?” “Of course not, Jesus! You’re being absurd!”
* * It is equally absurd to find you live like the world, walk like the world, talk like the world, love the things God hates, hate the things God loves, and conclude that you know God!
* * TEST: Do you produce fruits of repentance, turning quickly from sin whenever you’re confronted? Or do you produce the same fruit the rest of the world is producing?
* “Lord, Lord”
* * Many will claim Jesus is lord… they will have done great and powerful things in His name. But Jesus will tell them plainly, “Away from me. I never knew you.”
* * Isn’t this statement promoting a “salvation by works” theology? Absolutely not. As Dietrich Bonhoeffer said, “Only those who believe obey. And only those who obey believe.” The two are inseparable.
* * Jesus’ final words against these people are that they “practice lawlessness.” This doesn’t simply mean that they lived in sin, but that they lived as though they were never given a law. They live as though Jesus never said, “Take care of the widows and orphans”, “Not a hint of sexual immorality”, “Love God, love men”, etc. As if there were never standards of how to dress, how to treat one another, how to forgive, how to encourage and uplift, how to confront sin.
* * TEST: Do you call Jesus “Lord” and claim to have surrendered your life to Him while living as though He hasn’t told you how to live? Do you hunger and thirst to live in His righteousness, building His Kingdom, or do you chase after the things of this world?
* House on the rock, house on the sand
* * One who hears these words of Jesus has two options: He can act upon them, or pass them by. He can turn to daily repentance, clinging only to Jesus and His Word, or he can ignore these words and go about his life.
* * The one who acts on these words will stand through the storm and find eternal life.
* * The one who ignores these words will be destroyed.
* * TEST: Does this Scripture move me to scrutinize every aspect of my life, to remove any hint of sin and rebellion, or am I comfortable with where I’m at and where I’m going?

Scripture is painfully clear that those who continue in their sin have only the eternal wrath of God to look forward to. God is patient, wanting none to perish, but all to come to repentance. But there is coming a time when He will judge each and every one of us.

We cannot be satisfied by comparing our lives to other people. We can no longer hang our eternity on the testimony of men – even if Pastor Randy or Pastor Bob says, “You are saved; stop worrying!”, it is not good enough. Our job is not to tell people they’re saved – we are to tell people how to get saved – to repent and believe. GOD will tell them when they’re safe. In the mean time, we have been commanded to test ourselves to see whether or not we’re in the faith. We must be painfully truthful with ourselves because the heart is deceitfully wicked and other men don’t have the authority to declare us saved.

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Wow.

“Christians today are far more interested in spitting out excuses for why they can’t do what they ought than they are in just doing it.”